"Mud-dar"

My dog Nash has "mud-dar". That is, he has a special, radar-like power to locate any mud for miles. If this was somehow marketable, I may have a bit more patience. As it stands, I can't see any real benefit to his keen ability.

Let me explain how Nash's "mud-dar" proved to be a detriment just this weekend...

Cincinnati is a "dog-friendly" city. Not only do they have beautiful parks that are great for dog adventures - they also have a number of dog-parks. These fenced-in, doggie wonderlands are an excellent way to socialize your dog with other dogs (off-leash) as well as to give them plenty of space to run, roam & frolick.

We were thrilled as the dog-park nearest to our house recently was upgraded. The park underwent a substantial expansion, as well as added gravel to the watering areas (complete with buckets), and added a "time-out" location (for your misbehaving friend). Previously, the watering areas doubled as mud holes. These didn't truly test Nash's ability - the mud was just too obvious. Together, my husband and I were able to guard the watering holes. So, that is when "mud-dar" kicked in. Somehow, somewhere, he would find mud. The only dog in the dog park to find this sacred, hidden mud hole. At one point, I was chatting with fellow dog owners and looked up to search for Nash. As I was calling for him, a chocolate lab ran up to me. As I gave him a second look, I realized that wasn't brown fur... it was Nash, covered in MUD!

So, this past weekend, we headed to the newly renovated dog park. We were so excited to see the upgrades! As we walked in, it looked mudless. However, it wouldn't take long for Nash's "mud-dar" to kick in and prove us wrong. I saw him take off for the edge of the dog park under a grove of trees. I interrupted a discussion with the owner of a Springer Spaniel to scream "NOOOOOOooooooooo........." and go sprinting down the hill to intercept him. When I got there, I found him standing in 6 inches of mud. Not only did he stand in it, he dove in, head first. When I finally coaxed him out of his mud bath, he was covered.

He knew what was coming next... the bath, the leash, the ride home. Yet, somehow, a few seconds in the forbidden mud is all worth it for him. Maybe I should just head to the spa for my own mud bath and attempt to connect with his reasoning.

The Backyard Cleanup

Yesterday, we launched into the spring backyard cleanup. Last August, when we purchased our house, we decided to push off much of the landscaping work to the Spring - as we were focusing mainly on getting the interior ready for move-in. Little did we know how much work was awaiting us.

I began in a pair of flip flops and a tank top. As the day wore on, I put on long pants, long sleeves and toe-covering shoes. Needless to say - it got a bit intense. My gardening gloves and clippers weren't making the cut. So, we called in reinforcements (my father-in-law) and the power tools. By 3pm, we were in the backyard with protective gear and chainsaws to cut down the jungle of honeysuckles. If you've never had the experience of these nasty, invasive bushes, count yourself lucky. They just take over - and they grow very quickly! We were able to cut them down, but have not yet pulled out thier roots. So, we are only 1/2 done after a whole day of work! We now need to spend another weekend just digging!

After all of our hard work, we then attempted to clean out our goldfish pond - which is another mess! The goldfish and the pond came with the house - 2 things I should not have inherited. I don't think the fish survived the winter. In my defense, I even put the heater in the pond to keep it from icing over. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing there. So, I attempted to clean all of the debris out of the pond. I saw no swimming fishies... I am headed to the pond store to find out what I did wrong and what I need to do to fix it!

So, if anyone has any tips on getting rid of honeysuckle roots or cleaning up a goldfish pond, I'm all ears! Happy Spring cleaning!